Paul Kelly has been one of my favorite musicians since a trip a few years back to Australia. A buddy set me up with an iPhone full of Australian music and Paul Kelly's "Songs of the South" greatest hits album... Continue reading

I was able to see quite a few good shows this past year, including Paul Weller, Paul Kelly, Wishbone Ash, Jethro Tull and more. But the best gig by far was a December show by Greta Van Fleet. Although they're... Continue reading

Prolific game designer and IF author Emily Short has written her first play for radio entitled "Game Over" now available on BBC 4 Radio. I was lucky enough to be traveling in Canada where the show is accessible. I'm a fan of Emily Short's interactive fiction and I appreciate her... Continue reading

If you know one thing about the obscure prog rock band Klaatu, it's that in the late 1970s they were rumored to be the Beatles. Of course, that wasn't the case, as legions of Beatles fans later realized when they,... Continue reading

This October, I undertook a 5 day ride from Austin through Hill Country. There were three of us, carrying our gear and staying in hotels and AirBnB rentals. We cycled 80-110k per day and the weather was excellent; dry with temperatures primarily in the 60s and 70s F. Although there... Continue reading

This year, I was fortunate to be able to participate in National Novel writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. The idea behind the Z-Machine Matter had been kicking around for a couple of years getting scant attention. I knew there was a good story to be written, but I just never seemed... Continue reading

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, one of my favorite bands in the last twenty years, is on tour promoting their first new album in seven years. Although the album "The Hanged Man" was mostly composed and performed by Ted Leo... Continue reading

If you grew up in the '70s Jethro Tull was a band that was hard not to notice. They had a slew of FM radio hits and a distinct flute-driven sound ranging from blues to hard rock to prog to... Continue reading

The indie rock flick "Rumble" has been hitting some of the film festivals this year and I managed to catch a showing up in Traverse City. It's a great film for those who like music, especially rock and blues. The... Continue reading

I'd been looking forward to Anthony Horowitz's "Magpie Murders" since I first read about it in an interview in 2014. Horowitz is a prolific author and television screenwriter ("Agatha Christie's Poirot," "Midsomer Murders," and the classic "Foyle's War") and I've long been a fan. He's written two authorized Sherlock Holmes... Continue reading

For a lot of people, Joe’s Garage remains one of the most approachable of Frank Zappa’s works. Technically, a triple album when released on vinyl in 1979, it's long since been reissued as a double CD combining Acts I, II... Continue reading

The Summer concert season has kicked off in Northern Michigan with a concert by The Accidentals at Fountain Point Resort, just outside Traverse City. The Accidentals just wrapped up a 40 city tour and are preparing for the launch of... Continue reading

This past weekend, my brother and I completed the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour, a two-day ride put on by the Ottawa Bicycle Club from Ottawa to Kingston and back. This was my third time; my brother has probably done it a dozen times. There were about 2,000 participants, mostly hard-core... Continue reading

Following up on my prior post on The Art of Atari, fans of British retro computing will want to get a copy of the fascinating "Sinclair ZX Spectrum: A Visual Compendium" published by Bitmap Books in the UK. Though not as comprehensive as "The Art of Atari" the book provides... Continue reading

I'm very proud to see how much Duo Security has continue to grow. In 2016 we more than doubled Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) year over year, finishing at $73m and becoming cash-flow positive for the year. I've been a part... Continue reading

Much has been made of the slowdown in tech IPOs in recent years, but that trend appears to be changing in 2017. Of course, there are a few mega-companies that continue to sit on the sidelines (AirBnB, Uber, DropBox, I'm... Continue reading

Note: This story is also posted at www.rock-opera.com This next one is a bit of an odd-ball to me. It's not exactly a rock opera, but it's close enough to warrant examination. "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County" came together in... Continue reading

It was 50 years ago today, the Beatles' album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was released, ushering in a new sound for the Beatles, but also for rock music in general. For many, Sgt Pepper's is considered a breakthrough... Continue reading

I know everyone and his brother has written something about Chuck Berry's passing recently at the age of 90. Chuck Berry was truly the architect of rock and roll. As Jim Derogatis and Greg Kott put it on Sound Opinions,... Continue reading

If you're a fan of ''70s era retro computing, or graphic design in general, you should check out Dan Lapetino's "Art of Atari." First of all, it's worth noting this is a hefty book; it clocks in at just about 300 full color pages in a nice hardback binding. And... Continue reading

Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols recently published his long-awaited autobiography "Lonely Boy." I've read lots of rock bios over the years, and this is certainly the funniest, but also the starkest. Jones pulls no punches as he tells of... Continue reading

Infocom author and gaming legend Bob Bates is running a Kickstarter project to support his new IF game "Thaumistry: In Charm's Way." Bates was the only non-Infocom employee who wrote for the company with two classic IF titles to his credit ("Sherlock" and "Arthur"). Bates also co-founded Legend Entertainment, and... Continue reading

It might have been a slow Sunday evening for some folks, but I managed to score great seats to Elvis Costello & The Imposters playing at the historic Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. I've seen Elvis about half a dozen... Continue reading

New Jersey's elder statesman of rock, Bruce Springsteen, published an epic memoir "Born to Run." I'm not a Springsteen super-fan, but as far as rock docs go, it's well above average. The book clocks in at just over 500 pages,... Continue reading

I admit, I'm a sucker for rock operas. And if you throw in some HP Lovecraft, well then you've definitely got my attention. "Dreams in the Witch House" is a full-blooded modern rock opera based on one of HP Lovecraft's... Continue reading